FIELD OF INVENTION

This invention relates to aerodynamic flying toys adapted for throwing with a spinning motion imparted thereto on the aerodynamic flying toy.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Aerodynamic toys have been used extensively for entertainment purposes and developing agility and other skills in the person using the toy. The conventional aerodynamic flying toys are substantially saucer shaped or modification thereof and may incorporate lights for better visual effect when used at night. The saucer shaped aerodynamic flying toy is normally gripped by placing the thumb on the convex side of the saucer with the fingers or fingers of the hand extending around the rim and being placed on the concave side of the saucer.

It is an objective of the present invention to provide an aerodynamic flying toy that has a circumferential surface that facilitates gripping by the user, resulting in more consistent and better controlled throws and allows varied styles of launching.

It is another objective of the present invention to provide an aerodynamic flying toy capable of accomplishing a variety of aerodynamic manoeuvres.

It is yet another objective of the present invention to provide an aerodynamic flying toy that has concave portion on each side, enabling the aerodynamic flying toy to be launched immediately without having to first adjust and orient the convex surface upward as would be the case in an aerodynamic toy with only one concave portion.

When taken with the following descriptions of the drawings (not to scale), the various features and advantages of the aerodynamic flying toy of this invention will become apparent. SUMMARY OF INVENTION

In one embodiment, the aerodynamic flying toy has a central portion that is circular in form and substantially flat circumscribed at its peripheral edge by a first annular flange curving upwardly laterally towards the centre of the central portion, terminating in a first rim to form the first concave portion of the aerodynamic flying toy. A second annular flange circumscribes the peripheral edge of the central portion, curving downwardly laterally towards the centre of the central portion, terminating in a second rim to form the second concave portion of the aerodynamic flying toy. The annular flanges are preferably symmetrical about the central portion. The annular flanges merge with one another at the external circumference to form into a shape that resembles a wedding ring but with a wider flange or a tyre but with a narrower flange. The curved surface on the concave side of the annular flange of the aerodynamic flying toy can be further provided with one or more spaced apart ribs or ridges.

In another embodiment, the aerodynamic flying toy has a central portion that is circular in form and substantially flat surrounded by a first circumferential flange that circumscribes the central portion at its peripheral edge and projects upwardly laterally away from the centre of the central portion, terminating in a first rim to form the first concave portion of the aerodynamic flying toy. A second circumferential flange circumscribes the peripheral edge of the central portion and projects downwardly laterally away from the centre of the central portion terminating in a second rim to form the second concave portion of the aerodynamic flying toy. The ends of the circumferential flanges external to the concave portions are provided with a plurality of spaced apart ribs or ridges.

One salient feature of the aerodynamic flying toy of the present invention is that it is provided with two concave portions, enabling to the aerodynamic flying toy to be launched with either of the concave portion facing down. A complete ring like annular circumferential surface facilitates gripping by the user. The aerodynamic flying toy can be gripped while launching in several possible ways such as with the thumb and fingers placed on the rims or on the convex surface of the aerodynamic flying toy. The aerodynamic flying toy can be launched flexibly in several styles such as back hand style, fore hand style, discus style throw.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The drawings constitute part of this specification and include an exemplary or preferred embodiment of the invention, which may be embodied in various forms. It should be understood, however, the disclosed preferred embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention. Therefore, the figures (not to scale) disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as the basis for the claim and for teaching one skilled in the art of the invention.

In the appended drawings:

Fig. 1 is the top view of an embodiment of the aerodynamic flying toy of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the aerodynamic flying toy of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is the cross-sectional view at the section X-X of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is the vertical cross sectional view through a diametrical line of the central portion of the aerodynamic flying toy of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is the vertical cross sectional view through a diametrical line of the central portion of an aerodynamic flying toy provided with ribs or ridges.

Fig. 6 is the cross sectional view through a diametrical line of the central portion of another embodiment of the aerodynamic flying toy of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to Figs. 1 to 5, the aerodynamic flying toy (1) has a central portion (10) that is circular in form and substantially flat. A first annular flange (11) circumscribes the central portion (10) at its peripheral edge and curving upwardly laterally towards the centre of the central portion (10), terminating in a first rim (12) to form, together with the central portion (10), the first concave portion (15) of the aerodynamic flying toy (1). A second annular flange (21) circumscribes the peripheral edge of the central portion (10) and curving downwardly laterally towards the centre of the central portion (10), terminating in a second rim (22) to form, together with the central portion (10), the second concave portion (25) of the aerodynamic flying toy (1). Each annular flange (11, 21) merges with the central portion (10) at the peripheral edge of the central portion (10) in a curved and smooth transitional manner. The areas (13, 23) where the annular flanges (11, 21) meet the central portion (10) is preferably a filleted joint, but may also be other smooth joint such as a rim groove and the like, so as to reduce interference drag where the surfaces meet one another. The annular flanges (11, 21) are preferably symmetrical about the central portion (10) and merge with one another at the external circumference to form into a shape, when ignoring the central portion, that resembles a wedding ring but with a wider flange or a tyre but with a narrower flange.

The cross section profile of the combined annular flanges (11, 21) could be any suitable aerodynamic shape such as, but not limited to, the arc of the leading edge on the major axis of an ellipse, generating many possible arcs depending on the eccentricity of the ellipse, the arc of a circle, and the like curved surface and even V- shaped. The size of the annular flanges (11, 21) is selected such that the aerodynamic flying toy (1) may be conveniently gripped by placing the fingers on the convex side of the annular flanges (11, 12) or on the rims (12, 22).

Ridges (not shown) may be provided on the convex side of the annular flanges (11, 21) to act as spoiler as well as to improve the grip by user on the circumferential surface of the convex side of the annular flanges (11, 21) of the aerodynamic flying toy (1).

The central portion (10) and the annular flanges (11, 21) preferably comprise a single unit of unitary construction. Preferably the aerodynamic flying toy (1) of the present invention is manufactured integrally by injection moulding of plastic such as ABS, polyethylene and the like. The plastic material enables the aerodynamic flying toy (1) to have the degree of rigidity necessary for shape retention while retaining a limited degree of softness and flexibility to reduce impact shock on the party catching the aerodynamic flying toy (1). However, the material used may be foam rubber if a softer aerodynamic flying toy is preferred.

The combined peripheral convex surface of the annular flanges (11, 21) enable users to maintain firmer physical contact with the aerodynamic flying toy (1) during launching resulting in several advantages such as a more consistent, better controlled launches and better transfer of spins and torque for longer and faster flights of the aerodynamic flying toy (1) of the present invention.

The aerodynamic flying toy (1) can be gripped while launching in several possible ways. One way is to place the thumb on the convex side of the convex surface of one annular flange (11 or 21) and the other fingers on the convex surface of the other annular flange (21 or 11). Alternatively, instead of the other four fingers on the other annular flange (21 or 11), the fore finger can be at the leading edge of the annular flange surfaces i.e. at the meeting surfaces of the first annular flange (11) and the second annular flange (21). The aerodynamic flying toy (1) could also be launched, for example, by holding the aerodynamic flying toy (1) with the thumb on one rim (12 or 22) and the forefinger or other finger or fingers on the other rim (22 or 12) and trusting the aerodynamic flying toy (1) forward with a spinning motion.

The aerodynamic flying toy (1) can be launched flexibly in several styles such as back hand style, fore hand style, discus style throw, making the aerodynamic flying toy (1) more challenging and exciting to play with.

With a concave portion (15, 25) on each side of the aerodynamic flying toy (1), the aerodynamic flying toy (1) can be thrown immediately or re-launched immediately after catching the throw from another player without having to adjust or orientate the convex side of the aerodynamic toy (1) upward as with conventional Frisbee available in the market. Depending on the skill of the throwers, the aerodynamic flying toy (1) can also flip over from having one concave portion (15 or 25) facing downward into having the other concave portion (25 or 15) facing downward. Such varied flight manoeuvres provide even greater challenge to the user, making a game using the aerodynamic flying toy (1) of the present invention more interesting and exciting. Such flip over manoeuvre would not be possible with conventional saucer shaped aerodynamic toy that has only one concave portion.

Referring to Fig. 5, the curved surface on the concave side of the annular flange (11, 21) of the aerodynamic flying toy (1) can be further provided with one or more spaced apart ribs or ridges (16, 26) between the rim (12) and the central portion (10) and between the rim (22) and the central portion (10) respectively. These ribs or ridges (16, 26) run circumferentially around the aerodynamic flying toy (1) in planes parallel to the plane of the central portion (10) and concentric about the vertical axis passing through the centre of the central portion (10). The width of the ribs or ridges (16, 26) next to the central portion (10) is the widest and decreases progressively towards the rim (11, 21). Preferably the widths of the ribs or ridges (36, 46) are adapted in such a way that the circles formed by the loci of the free ends of the ribs or ridges (36, 46) have the same or greater radius than the circle formed by the loci of the rim (12 or 22). For an aerodynamic flying toy (1) provided with only one rib or ridge on either side of the concave portion (15, 25), the loci of the free ends of the ribs or ridges (36, 46) have the same or greater radius than that of the rims (12, 22). An aerodynamic flying toy (1) with ribs or ridges (36, 46) is relative heavier than an aerodynamic flying toy (1) without ribs or ridges (36, 46). With a heavier weight at the annular flange, the aerodynamic flying toy (1) is capable of achieving higher and longer flight trajectories compared to the aerodynamic flying toy (1) without ribs or ridges (36, 46). The weight of the aerodynamic flying toy (1) can be varied by having different numbers of ribs or ridges (36, 46).

Fig. 6 shows another embodiment of the aerodynamic flying toy (2) of this invention. In this embodiment, the aerodynamic flying toy (2) has a central portion (30) that is circular in form and substantially flat. A first circumferential flange (31) circumscribes the central portion (30) at its peripheral edge and projects upwardly laterally away from the centre of the central portion (30), terminating in a first rim (32) to form, together with the central portion (30), the first concave portion (35) of the aerodynamic flying toy (2). A second circumferential flange (41) circumscribes the peripheral edge of the central portion (30) and projects downwardly laterally away from the centre of the central portion (30), terminating in a second rim (42) to form, together with the central portion (30), the second concave portion (45) of the aerodynamic flying toy (2). The circumferential flanges (31, 41) are preferably symmetrical about the central portion (30). The first and the second concave portions (35, 45) generally have the shape of a tub. The ends of the circumferential flanges (31, 41) external to the concave portions (35, 45) are provided with a plurality of spaced apart ribs or ridges (36) to facilitate grip on the aerodynamic flying toy (2) by the user and to serve as spoilers for the aerodynamic flying toy (2). The lengths of the ribs and ridges (36) are adapted such that the leading edges of the ribs or ridges (36) may take any of the several possible shapes such as the arc of the leading edge on the major axis of an ellipse, generating many possible arcs depending on the eccentricity of the ellipse, the arc of a circle, and the like curved surface or even V-shaped.

The aerodynamic flying toy (2) can be gripped while launching in several possible ways as described in the earlier embodiment. The aerodynamic flying toy (2) can be launched flexibly in several styles such as back hand style, fore hand style, discus style throw. Preferably the aerodynamic flying toy (2) of this embodiment is manufactured integrally by injection moulding of plastic such as ABS, polyethylene and the like. The advantages outlined for the aerodynamic flying toy (1) of the earlier embodiment apply to this embodiment of the aerodynamic flying toy (2) and are not repeated here.

The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the principle and scope of the invention, and all such modifications as would obvious to one skilled in the art intended to be included within the scope of following claims.